"...I guess it must be hard," Michael grants after a moment of thought. "Six months is nothing to something like us. It's not that long to wait, but then he hardly gets any time with her at all." How would he cope, only getting to see his friends in brief fragments? That's barely enough time to get used to having someone around before they're gone again.

Not that it makes it right, of course. But you can understand someone's motivations without accepting them as correct. God knows Michael's had his own stupid reasons that felt justified at the time.

He's mostly watching the workers with interest, but he remains with Orpheus. "But he should talk to her. It seems pretty obvious that she doesn't really like this."